Sling and puppet toy

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a toy puppet that is supportable on a manipulator&#39;s torso. In particular, a torso-supporting means typically takes the form of a sling in which the puppet figure is supported. The sling can be tied about the user or have two ends which are attachable. Typically, the ends are attached via velcro. Thus, the torso-supportable puppet has a slit into which the user can insert their hands to manipulate the puppet. The torso supportable means also comprises a slit into which the user can insert their hand. When the puppet is manipulated, the inserted hand is hidden by the puppet which gives the operation of the puppet a life-like feel.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/409,201, filed Nov. 2, 2010, to which priority is claimed under 35USC 119.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a picture of a puppet embodiment about the torso of a user.

FIG. 2 shows a rear view of a puppet/sling combination embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows another picture of a puppet/sling embodiment about thetorso of a user with the user's hand positioned through the sling and inthe puppet.

FIG. 4 shows a picture of a puppet/sling embodiment with the user's handout of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows a picture of a rear see-through view of a user's hand inthe puppet embodiment without the sling.

FIG. 6 shows a side see-through view of a user's hand in the puppetembodiment.

DESCRIPTION

Small- and large-scale manipulatable puppets resembling an animal,person or like figure are well-known for their play value andentertainment appeal to all audiences, especially children. Such puppetsinclude the full-bodied articulated puppets having jointedstring-supported limbs which are separately manipulatable from above thepuppet, as well as miniature finger puppets and hand puppets. The fingerpuppets are manipulated solely by the manipulator's fingers, whereas thehand puppets generally require the manipulator's entire hand. Themanipulator may use all the fingers of his hand to move the puppet'smouth or, in some cases, the manipulator inserts at least one fingerinto the puppet head, and inserts his other fingers into the puppet'srespective limbs to provide full-bodied puppet movement.

Although generally satisfactory for their intended play andentertainment purposes, as well as for educational and physicalcoordination purposes, the finger- and hand-puppets of the prior art areminiature figures in the sense that they must generally conform to thesize of the manipulator's fingers and/or hand. In order to provide amore life-like puppet, it is desirable to increase the overalldimensions of the finger- and hand-puppets to a size which is largerthan the average human hand. However, only the puppet head of suchlarger-sized puppets is directly supported by the manipulator's hand.The puppet arms and legs are typically left unsupported andunmanipulatable. Such dangling limbs impart a very unappealing andundesirable limp appearance for the puppet. As a result, the limp puppetnot only fails to create the impression of a realistic-lookinglarge-scale puppet figure, but also fails to properly display the puppetin, for example, a commercial setting.

In order to increase the play, entertainment, educational andcoordination value of a large-sized puppet, the inventor has realizedthat it is very desirable for the puppet to assume an embracing-,cuddling- and hugging-type posture with the person. It is believed thatno manipulative puppet exists in the prior art which is supportable onthe manipulator's person, or which is positioned in a hugging-typeposture during use.

In keeping with these advantages and others which will become apparenthereinafter, one feature of the invention resides, briefly stated, in atoy puppet which is supportable not only on a human torso, but also on adisplay support. In a preferred embodiment, the toy puppet has a figurewhich resembles a baby-like figure. The puppet has a hollow puppet head,a hollow puppet body mounted on the puppet head.

As noted above, the toy puppet is supportable on a manipulator's torso.In accordance with this invention, torso-supporting means are providedon the puppet figure for supporting the same on the manipulator's torso.The torso-supporting means typically takes the form of a sling in whichthe puppet figure is supported. The sling can be tied about the user orhave two ends which are attachable. Typically, the ends are attached viaVelcro or via a strap, or some combination of both.

The torso-supportable puppet has a slit into which the user can inserttheir hands to manipulate the puppet. The torso supportable means alsocomprises a slit into which the user can insert their hand. When thepuppet is manipulated, the inserted hand is hidden by the puppet whichgives the operation of the puppet a life-like feel.

The aforesaid puppet posture greatly increases the play value andentertainment appeal for children, because it appears that the puppet isresting in the sling in a loving manner. Also, when the hand is insertedinto the interior cavity of the puppet, the inserted hand is hidden andthe user looks to have a normal posture, which results in a morelife-like appearance for the puppet.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Given the fact the puppet is supported in a sling, the puppet willtypically take the form of a baby or infant. The puppet/slingcombination portrays a truly lifelike baby sling that hides operation ofthe puppet by the user's hand. In a specific embodiment, as shown inFIG. 2, the invention pertains to a puppet sling combination 8 where thesling 9 has a first end 10 and a second end 12 connected by a sling body13 interposed between said first and second ends 10, 12. The sling, forthis embodiment, is in the form of a pliable planar sheet. Defined at astrategic location in the sling body 13 is an opening, such as a slit14, through which the user inserts their hand. During operation of thepuppet 15, the sling is wrapped around the shoulder of the user andconnected at the first and second ends. The sling body acts as a cradlesocket into which a puppet is disposed. The puppet typically at leastincludes a head and a torso portion. The puppet includes an opening 16that is accessible via the slit 14 in the sling body 13. While the sling9 is wrapped about the user and the puppet is situated into socketformed by the sling body, the user inserts their hand through the slingbody slit 14 and then into the puppet via opening 16. The hand can thenbe directed to the operational area of the puppet such as to the head. Ahook and loop fabric attachments may be included to secure the first end10 to the second end 12.

Shown in the embodiment of FIG. 2 is an adjustable strap 19 that isengageable to the sling body 13. As shown, the strap is connectable by ahook and loop fabric assembly 21. The assembly has a first piece of hookand loop fabric on the end 10 and a second piece matable with the firstpiece. The second piece includes hoops through which the adjustablestrap 19 can be fastened. The assembly has the additional advantage asserving as a safety feature should the strap 19 be caught on something.

FIG. 5 shows a rear transparent view of a puppet embodiment that shows auser's hand positioned within the puppet. FIG. 5 is shown without theunique sling design. FIG. 6 shows a side transparent view of the head ofthe puppet to show the user's hand positioned in the head of the puppet.

FIG. 1 shows a photograph of an embodiment in use. The sling is wrappedaround the users shoulder and the puppet fits inside. The user puts hishand through the slit in the sling and the puppet. See FIG. 3. Shown inFIG. 4 is the baby resting in the sling without the users hand insertedtherethrough.

While various disclosed embodiments have been described above, it shouldbe understood that they have been presented by way of example only, andnot limitation. Numerous changes to the subject matter disclosed hereincan be made in accordance with this Disclosure without departing fromthe spirit or scope of this Disclosure. In addition, while a particularfeature may have been disclosed with respect to only one of severalimplementations, such feature may be combined with one or more otherfeatures of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageousfor any given or particular application.

Thus, the breadth and scope of the subject matter provided in thisDisclosure should not be limited by any of the above explicitlydescribed embodiments. Rather, the scope of this Disclosure should bedefined in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, thesingular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the pluralforms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “including,” “includes,”“having,” “has,” “with,” or variants thereof are used in either thedetailed description and/or the claims, such terms are intended to beinclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.”

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which embodiments belong. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

The teachings of any patents, patent applications, technical orscientific articles or other references are incorporated herein in theirentirety to the extent not inconsistent with the teachings herein.

1. A puppet assembly that is supported about a torso of an operator, theassembly comprising a a sling component comprised of a pliable, planarmaterial, said sling component comprising a first end, a second end anda body portion, and a sling slit defined in the body portion; and apuppet component, said puppet comprising a head portion and a bodyportion, wherein said puppet defines a cavity for placement of theoperator's hand for manipulating said puppet and a puppet slit definedthereon for insertion of the operator's hand into the cavity; whereinduring operation of the puppet assembly, the sling component issupported over the shoulder of the operator and said operator accessesthe cavity via the sling slit and the puppet slit.
 2. The puppetassembly of claim 1, wherein said first end and second end areassociated together.
 3. The puppet assembly of claim 2, wherein saidfirst end and second end are tied together.
 4. The puppet assembly ofclaim 2, wherein said first end and second end are removably attached bya hook and loop fabric associated on respective ends.
 5. The puppetassembly of claim 1, wherein said puppet is in the form of an infant. 6.The puppet assembly of claim 1, wherein said first and second ends aretapered respective to said body portion.